Victorious
by Audeamxus
Summary: Hopeful, Major, and Expert are the best of friends. They know each other almost better than they know themselves. One day, Hopeful and Major stumble upon Expert's diary and learn of an experience, a secret, that he had been hiding for a very long time. What the trio would never have expected is the return of the one who defined that experience—and a fight for acceptance in Jamaa.


**A/N:** Good morning/afternoon/night wherever you are. This story was written for some random contest on Instagram that I decided to enter, which obviously means there's less effort put into this, but oh well :P And of course, since I live in the Soler System, I had to slip in some Alvaro Soler stuff - sorry (not lol).

Wildworks owns Animal Jam and no characters are real. _These are not the same characters used in any of my other stories_ (Recalculation, Night of Destruction, nothing). "Intelle" is some random word I thought of. It really has no meaning. Now, have fun reading and don't forget to leave a review.

 _Spiked collars probably weren't in 2012 and headdresses weren't that rare in 2012 but just bear with me here because I don't know a thing about rares -_

* * *

 _February 9, 2018_

Hopeful Rainysun put another cup under the hot cocoa machine, listening to a Jammer, Major Lightningwolf, ramble on and on about rares. Rares, rares, rares. How easy or difficult it was to get certain items. How a black long was rarer than an orange long. How he'd met this "Jammer who didn't know his rares", argued with him, and had then gotten suspended for three days for "scamming".

Major was the rarest Jammer in Jamaa - or, at least that Hopeful and his other friend who worked here in the Hot Cocoa Hut, Fauna Frozenshadow, had ever known. He had tons of spiked collars and wristbands and undefined magenta items, not to mention headdresses. He loved talking about rares, but he tried not to show off.

"...and that's how I got suspended," Major finished, sighing. "For no reason at all."

"Sounds like he'd better learn cool down a bit when someone declines a trade," Fauna said, shrugging. "Even if he doesn't know his rares."

Major nodded. "He sure should," he sighed again, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm unsuspended now, so Expert, why don't you tell us something? Anything?"

Hopeful turned to a fox that was supposedly Expert Rockyhelper. He thought for a moment. "Well, this year hasn't been too eventful for me yet," Expert said. "But do any of you remember that earthquake that happened in 2012? It was the worst disaster in Jamaa's history."

Hopeful nodded. He wasn't around when the 2012 earthquake hit, but he knew that there were many fatalities and quite a bit of damage. He had heard of it everywhere. It was on the Jamaa Journal for weeks, months, and even years after it had struck. It seemed so horrible; Hopeful could almost see it in his mind. Buildings toppling over. Dens collapsing. Jammers screaming and running for shelter. Objects flying everywhere.

"Oh yeah, I sure do," Hopeful said. "Even though I wasn't around this area then."

Expert nodded. "Around a month before it hit, I was scammed. Of a lot."

"How many den betas?" Major questioned.

"Not den betas. Three black longs."

" _Ouch._ "

"Yeah, I know; it was horrible. And soon after, when I'd learned that the one who scammed me was known as a scammer and just about did nothing but scam others, well, that made me even angrier..."

* * *

 _August 21, 2012_

Expert Rockyhelper was scowling, trembling, the fur on his back rising. He had just gotten scammed of three black long collars. He wasn't sure how it happened. It was a perfectly safe trade. Three black longs for a headdress. Yet somehow, Victory Loopyclaws managed to run off with Expert's items and Expert got no headdress in return.

 _What is going on here?_

It had to have been a scam. Once the trade was completed, Victory quickly ran off like he didn't want to be seen. Besides, how could Expert have ended up with no items in the end? How could he possibly report it to the moderators? He knew they would show proof that he willingly traded the items, which meant that they wouldn't do anything about it. Maybe he should have run off earlier when he suspected that the hideous grey, black, purple, and blue outfit, fur, and style was something.

He was nearly drowning in his anger when another Jammer walked by and stopped.

"Hey, man," he said, confused. "What's with the bad mood? Girlfriend cheated on ya?" He didn't wait for a response from Expert. "Well, if that's the case, you'd be better off leavin' her behind. Of course, you're gonna wanna say, 'Sigo sin tu mirada!' I mean, I don't know no Spanish, but it's supposed to mean somethin' like 'Goodbye' or 'Leaving without'cha', but I dunno for sure. And it works. She ain't ever gonna mess with ya again once - "

"No," Expert snapped, though he hadn't meant to. "My girlfriend didn't cheat on me. Heck, I don't even _have_ a girlfriend."

The Jammer paused for a moment, cocking his head to the side. Then he shrugged, bringing his head back in place. "Really? You sure? 'Cause I ain't ever seen no Jammer so angry before and I don't know any other thing that can make someone so darn mad other than your lover runnin' off and cheatin'."

Expert clenched his teeth. "I was scammed."

" _Ooh._ " The Jammer winced as if the words were painful. "Scammers and scams have been goin' around _a lot_ lately. Better watch out." He paused again. "Just out of plain curiosity, what were you scammed of? And do ya know who did it?"

"Three black longs," Expert managed to say. It made him angrier only thinking about it. Three years of hard work that was _gone._ "It was Victory Loopyclaws."

The Jammer's eyes went wide. "Victory?" he asked, surprised. " _That_ Victory? You mean Loopyclaws is _back?_ "

"What do you mean, _back?_ "

" _Man,_ you must've had a rough one with him," the Jammer sighed, shaking his head. "Loopyclaws was a scammer - like a real _big-time_ scammer - back in 2009-ish. By 2010, he had supposedly scammed around two thousand people. _Two thousand._ And not one time did he get caught or punished." He shook his head again, pausing. "I don't know how he does it. Some people around here say he uses somethin' called automatic accepting or something. Allows someone - or particularly a scammer, 'cause if you ain't no scammer, what in the name of Jamaa would ya be doin' that for? - to quickly accept a trade with somehow _not_ actually putting in the items they promised to trade. Probably some glitch in the _Trade._ We've all been prayin' to Zios that it gets fixed soon."

"You mean Victory is a real scammer? He scams a lot?" Expert asked. He had to find out more. Maybe he could be the one to trap this scammer and save the Jammers from losing more items.

The Jammer nodded sadly, sighing again. "Hate to have to tell ya, but yes," he said. "This is the first time in a long time that I've heard - or seen, in this particular case - about someone getting scammed by Loopyclaws. Disappeared sometime last year, so we thought he was gone forever, but I guess he's chosen to return to some more little scammin'. Just remember. Dark fur. Grey, blue, black, purple. Brown eyes. Fox that seems like a wolf - and is often mistaken for one, if you ask me."

Expert nodded, taking it all in. Then, something confused him.

"If he was known as such a scammer, why did so many people fall for his scams? If they could recognize him, I mean?" he asked.

"Don't know," the Jammer said. "I ain't ever gotten scammed by that guy, but all I know is that he's got his tricks. Somethin' to make you trust him. But no matter how much ya do, just don't, and you won't get scammed. I doubt he knows anything other than to scam. But what's he gonna do with all those rares? Pretty sure he's got every item in the game now - or at least, the rare ones, the ones worth havin'."

Expert frowned. There had to be something behind this. "Thanks," he said to the Jammer. "It was nice talking to you. I'd best be on my way now."

Just as he was turning away, the other Jammer called out, "See you later! And if you ever find your girlfriend cheatin' on ya, remember that 'Sintumirada' trick!"

* * *

 _February 9, 2018_

Hopeful couldn't believe it. "You got scammed of three black longs by _Victory?_ That huge scammer?" He knew that Victory Loopyclaws wasn't around anymore; nobody knew where he had gone. He hadn't been seen in Jamaa since 2013 and almost no one mentioned him for a reason Hopeful didn't know.

Expert nodded. "I was really upset," he said. " _Really_ upset. You'd better believe I destroyed the _Trade_ that was outside my den because I wasn't about to get scammed again."

"No way! I can't live without _Trade!_ " Major cried.

"I could," Fauna laughed as she handed a cup of hot cocoa to a Jammer. "Well, maybe not. It would be difficult to get items back and forth. But I'm not as big of a trader as you."

"That's 'cause you weren't born in Aldan," Major said, rolling his eyes.

Everyone laughed.

"What does any of this scamming have to do with the earthquake, though?" Hopeful asked.

"You'll see soon," Expert responded. "That next month, I was stuck deep in thought, wondering how this could be. How could Victory have taken my spiked collars without giving a headdress in return? How could this be possible? I knew that, of course, it was no use dwelling on it…"

* * *

 _September 19, 2012_

It had been nearly a month since Expert had gotten scammed by the biggest scammer ever known to exist in Jamaa. He had tried trading back up to another black long but hadn't gotten far. The most he'd earned the past month was a few Rare Item Mondays. No one had been willing to trade him anymore.

As he walked around Jamaa Township, Expert felt pangs of envy whenever he saw someone with a spiked collar or headdress - especially a black long collar. They were so lucky to not have gotten scammed. To still have their rares and all the items they loved. To be admired and looked up to as a rare person and -

Expert suddenly felt himself hit something that felt like feathers. He gasped and backed away, only to realize that he had run into a penguin.

"I...sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Expert apologized.

"Oh, no worries," the penguin said, She turned to face him. "It's perfectly fine. Although I'd recommend you and I both get out of here. Fast."

That caught Expert's attention. "What? Why?" he asked, confused. "Why get out of here? Is Victory back?"

"I don't know where Victory the scammer went," the penguin said, shrugging, "but there's an earthquake coming. And it's going to be bad. It's going to hit all of Jamaa - that's for sure - but I've heard that the Lost Temple of Zios won't be hit as hard, which is where everyone should be headed. Coral Canyons has already felt a little shaking."

"When will it strike?" Expert said, swallowing. He'd never been in an earthquake before. He wasn't sure it was going to turn out okay.

"If we're lucky, it'll strike on the 21st and won't be as severe as we thought it would," the penguin responded. "But chances are, it's going to hit tomorrow - the 20th - and be just as horrible as predicted." Then she paused. "You haven't heard any warning until now?"

Expert shook his head, then realized that he had better get out of this place. Fast. The earthquake was going to strike soon, and he knew that he had better make it out of Jamaa Township at least. He completely forgot about having gotten scammed as he ran back to his den, not bothering to respond to the penguin.

* * *

 _February 9, 2018_

"You didn't turn on your TV? Like, at all?" Hopeful asked in bewilderment.

Expert shook his head. "I was too angry and too busy trying to trade to turn on the TV or pay attention to anything that people said. And I only read the Jamaa Journal on Thursdays, but I was too upset to pay attention to anything in there as well."

"Did you ever get out of the area?" Fauna asked.

"I sure did. I escaped to the Temple of Zios, but, well, it wasn't as safe as everyone thought it would be, even if Zios was there…"

* * *

 _September 20, 2012_

The first tremor had just begun to rip through the land.

"It's starting!" someone shouted.

Expert felt a rush of adrenaline. He gulped and looked around, realizing that objects were beginning to scatter themselves around the area. Jammers were either running for cover or going wild. But the Lost Temple of Zios wasn't going to experience things as horrible as other areas. Everyone knew that.

Minutes later, however, Expert was beginning to doubt that. The tremor was supposed to end - or at least not be this strong. Why was it getting stronger? Were the predictions wrong?

He looked around frantically. A pile of rocks had tumbled over and was now scattered all around the Zios statue. Jammers were screaming and running for cover. Expert felt a loose piece of debris hit the edge of his paw. If he didn't find some cover soon, he would find himself all flattened out like a pancake under more debris.

But the tremor was now progressing into an earthquake. It hadn't stopped or gotten weaker at all. The more Expert ran around panicking, it seemed, the more Jamaa seemed to shake. Soon enough, it seemed as if a giant phantom had picked up Jamaa with its huge tentacles and was tossing it back and forth like a worn blanket.

Expert had to find shelter somewhere. But _where?_ All buildings had toppled over at least somewhat - Brady's Lab, the Adventure Base Camp entrance, the Chamber of Knowledge, and the mysterious unopened building. All torn down. Trees and branches, along with rocks and remnants of buildings, almost seemed to skitter across the ground. As he dashed here and there, trying to avoid falling debris, he wondered how he was going to make it out of here alive.

The land suddenly - and violently - jolted, sending what remained of the buildings tumbling over.

It also managed to send Expert tumbling down a huge pile of debris, slamming him against a half-broken wall. He hadn't had any time to register what had happened until a large tree branch rolled down the same pile of debris and pinned him against the wall.

He was trapped.

 _Now what?_ He felt his fear rise into panic. _What do you do? What did your teachers tell you? Your friends? Parents? How do you free yourself?_ Expert told himself to calm down and think of a solution, but try as he might, he couldn't come up with anything.

He was going to die.

As the shaking became more violent, Expert braced himself for the worst. A shadow loomed over the mountain of debris and Expert figured it was a large rock or loose piece of concrete that was going to crush him. What a great way to die -

Something - or someone - was lifting the tree branch off of him.

Expert looked around, confused. He ignored the violent shaking. The only one crazy enough to be around when a huge earthquake was destroying the land was himself. Who would be here to save him? Besides, wasn't he already dead?

"You're still alive," a familiar voice said, as if reading Expert's mind. "Now take my paw and let's get out of here."

That voice sparked a memory in Expert's mind. His eyes went wide while, at the same time, the voice sparked a chain of fire-like anger within him.

He craned his head to the side to see who it was - no, he already knew who it was. Even through the shaking, Expert could make out a wolf - or, fox - with brown eyes and dark fur. He had his arm outstretched, as if expecting for Expert to take it.

"We'll get out of here," Victory Loopyclaws shouted over the loud crashing. "Come with me. I'll take you somewhere safe. Trust me."

But all Expert could think of was what had happened a month ago - the closest thing to a safe trade that could possibly be and then turning out to be a scam. _And no one knew how he could have done it._ He remembered what the other Jammer had said to him that other day…

" _Just remember. Dark fur. Grey, blue, black, purple. Brown eyes. Fox that seems like a wolf - and is often mistaken for one, if you ask me. I ain't ever gotten scammed by that guy, but all I know is that he's got his tricks. Somethin' to make you trust him. But no matter how much ya do, just don't, and you won't get scammed. I doubt he knows anything other than to scam."_

 _Just don't trust Victory._

Expert scowled and inched away from Victory, shaking his head, the fur on his back rising again - from anger or fear? He wasn't sure. "I'd rather die - like, getting painfully strangled to death by a phantom kind of 'die' - instead of go with _you!_ " he shouted.

"Just _take_ \- " Victory was interrupted by a loud crumbling, crashing sound. " - can _get out of here!_ "

Expert didn't know what to do. But as he stared into Victory's fearful eyes - yes, _fearful_ \- he wanted to feel angry at Victory for taking his rare items, yet what he felt wasn't anger. He knew that it was trust Victory or die. But how could he know that Victory wouldn't scam him again?

 _Then don't trade him; simple._

Expert gathered all the courage he could, and over the overwhelming shaking of the land, reached out and grabbed Victory's paw. Victory wasted no time tugging him up and then proceeded to drag him over a long distance.

Expert had no idea where Victory was taking him, but he hoped it was somewhere safe. He noticed that as they ran, the shaking began to subside. The phantom slowly stopped shaking Jamaa and then finally stopped altogether.

Victory skidded to a stop and tried to catch his breath. Expert looked up at the one who had scammed him - who had taken his items, all his hard work after three years. All he knew was to scam and even through an earthquake, all Victory wanted was more rares and to scam others -

Victory read the doubt in Expert's eyes. He breathed in and sighed.

"I know," he said. "I know you hate me. But I understand. I know it was wrong of me to take your black longs. I knew it was wrong from the start, but I did it anyway. I don't know what's wrong with me. I mean...what am I ever going to do with rares? Well, I mean, I guess I like having them, just feeling like I'm a rarer person in Jamaa, and I've always hidden them here. In this place. A place where no phantoms or natural disasters could attack or strike. It was selfish of me to keep it all to myself, but...I'm sorry. I should never have taken your rares."

Expert swallowed. He hadn't been expecting that. As he looked around, he realized the entire cave-like area was filled with rares, most of them locked up in a crate. Some of them had labels: Spiked Collars, Party Hats, Headdresses, Undefined Items…

"And yes, I scammed this all," Victory said quietly, wincing as if it hurt to think about it. "Every. Last. Item. That headdress I used to scam you? I scammed that from someone else, too. And three black longs in here are yours."

Expert shook his head. "But…" he said, still in shock. "How did you scam me in the first place? How could you have run off with my items without trading me the headdress?"

"Oh, that?" Victory hesitated. "I'd rather not say. I wouldn't want others to use it for scamming themselves." He paused, glancing at Expert. "Not that I think you'd scam, of course, but - like - you know - "

"No, it's okay, I understand," Expert said quickly. "I mean...I guess…" He didn't know what to say. "I forgive you. I truly do. And it's fine, you can keep the black longs. I don't really need them, now that I think about it."

Victory sighed, shaking his head. "No. That...that wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be right for me to even stay here. Nobody would trust me if I tried to give back their rares. I'm so stupid. Why did I scam? Why am I such a horrible person?" Now he seemed to be talking more to himself than to Expert. "Just...take all my items, Expert," Victory sighed. "Yes, every last thing in here. Take it all. And maybe...maybe give them back to everyone I scammed, if you could. They'd trust you. But not me. I want you to tell everyone that I'm never going to return to Jamaa and that they don't have to worry anymore, okay?"

"Wait, where are you going?" Expert said, standing back up. However, he hadn't finished his sentence until Victory turned, Expert blinked, and then he was gone.

Gone.

Disappeared.

In a blink of an eye.

"Victory?" Expert called, darting around the cave. "Victory? Where are you?" he shouted, louder this time. He looked behind boxes, above boxes, even inside and under them. He continued to call Victory's name, but his voice only echoed around the cave.

Victory Loopyclaws had disappeared.

Expert sat down on a crate labeled _Junk_ and sighed sadly.

"You know, Victory," he barely whispered, "I've always thought you weren't any good and that scammers knew nothing other than to scam. But if it hadn't been for you, I would have died out there. That tree was crushing me and we both knew it better than we knew Mira and Zios. And the Mira and Zios that you knew were the same Mira and Zios that I know. The land you stood on is the same land everyone else stands on. The sun you were under is the same sun everyone else is under. And you _saved_ me. You don't - well, you do scam, or should I say, _scammed?_ But you don't anymore. You have good in yourself. Sometimes it takes a little while to show, is all. I hope I'll see you again one day, Victory. I hadn't even gotten a chance to thank you yet."

Expert sighed again and walked out of the cave, taking one last look. Then he turned away and slunk off, not bothering to take anything with him, even the three black longs that Victory had scammed.

* * *

 _February 9, 2018_

"And that's the end," Expert finished. "I never saw Victory again, but I won't stop hoping that one day I will again and that he'll return to Jamaa. I know he's here somewhere. All he needs is some love, some support, and he'll be back in a flash. I doubt he's ever going to scam again."

"But you left all those rares behind!" Major said, his eyes wide, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'd never do that!"

Expert shrugged, sipping his hot cocoa again. "I visit that cave from time to time, but I've never opened - or tried to open - any of those crates," he said. He glanced at the fireplace. "Sometimes I've considered burning them. What am I ever going to do with all those items, anyway? I'd rather have Victory return to the area than to have all the rares in the world."

Hopeful nodded. "You think Victory is going to come back one day?"

"I actually think he was a nice person and never actually wanted to scam in the first place, but he felt like he needed...revenge, maybe," Fauna suggested.

"I hope one day, I'll find Victory somewhere," Expert said, sighing. "And yes, Fauna, maybe he never really wanted to scam and wanted revenge. I know the feeling of wanting revenge because I sure wanted it when I was scammed."

Hopeful nodded, taking it all in. He hadn't paid much attention to the stories that other Jammers had told him, but he replayed what Expert had said over and over in his head. Expert was right that everyone was under the same sun and that everyone had some sort of good in them.

"Well, uh…" Expert said, glancing at his watch. "I'd best be on my way now. It was nice hanging around here."

Hopeful smiled. "See you soon," he said as Expert and Major walked out the door.

That night, as Hopeful Rainysun was closing the Hot Cocoa Hut, he thought he saw a flash of movement near the back of the building.

Hopeful jerked his head over the side and instantly dashed over to the back.

"Who was that?" he called. "Hello?"

After a few minutes of searching, he hadn't found anyone or anything. _Must have been my imagination._ But suddenly, as he turned around back to the front of the Hot Cocoa Hut, he slammed right into someone.

"Wh - ?" Hopeful quickly backed up a few steps to see what he had just run into, and as he did, his heart nearly stopped.

A wolf - no, not a wolf; a fox.

Brown eyes.

Dark fur with grey, blue, black, and purple.

"Hey," the fox said, "My name is Leaping Cleverghost. I think I'm lost. Do you know where Jamaa Township is?"

Hopeful stood there, frozen, unable to say a word. Then a smile broke out on his face.

"You know, Victory," he laughed, "I think I know someone who wants to see you."


End file.
